The post show buzz was still coursing through Mitch's veins as they stepped off stage. Avi was extra bouncy as he squeezed the petite man into a hug and the moment their in-ears were removed a burst of conversation and laughter hit the quintet and their tour manager. He'd nearly forgotten about the big Scott shaped problem waiting for him down the hallway, but then his best friend turned to him with a luminescent smile, a string of compliments rolling off of his tongue, and all of the questions and weirdness came crashing back down.

His face fell and it was only a beat later that Scott's joined it.

What now? What do you do with a strange man who looks just like your best friend and somehow claims he IS him. Call the police? No. He didn't do anything...yet.

"Um, we should change." Scott was tugging him down the hall by his arm before he could even respond. The others barely gave them a second glance.

"Easy. I don't need a leash, y'know." He pulled his arm away and took a deep breath as he followed Scott towards one of the changing rooms. The door had barely clicked shut before Scott was collapsing into a chair, his fingers ruining his perfectly styled coif. 

Mitch stood in front of him trying to figure out what to do with nervous hands and settled on crossing his arms over his chest. 

"What are we going to do with him. It's not like we can sneak him onto the bus."  

Scott just looked at him through worried eyes. "Why is he here? What does he want?" 

"I don't know, but we'll figure it out. We always do." He put a hand on Scott's shoulder, but the tension didn't abate in the least.

"Mitch if he does something... people would think it's me. Even you thought he was me at first."

"For like a microsecond and it was only at a glance. It's obvious when you really look at him."

"What do we do?" Scott looked young and vulnerable as he stared up at him, and Mitch switched to protecto mode.

"We should tell someone. The more people that know there is another you walking around the better. It'll keep people from mistaking him for you without thinking twice."

"No. First I want to know why he's here and why the hell he thinks he's 'me'. There has to be a reason and I just can't seem to come up with anything harmless."

"Maybe you should let me talk to him alone." 

"NO. Hell no! There is NO way I'm leaving you alone with him even for a second."

"Easy, Turbo. You keep freaking out before we get anywhere. I don't know why but I think he trusts me."

"I don't care. I don't trust him, especially not with you."

Mitch shook his head, but he couldn't fight the fond smile that crept up his lips. "Alright. We don't have a lot of time to figure this out so we should just rip off the bandaid and get it over with. Lets go get some answers." He turned to head out the door, but Scott wrapped his arms around him from behind and squeezed him tight.

"I know it's stupid, but I'm scared, Mitch."

The whispered words against his hair hit him in the chest and he put his hands over Scott's arms. "It's not stupid. I would have lost my mind by now. God, could you imagine if another ME showed up."

Scott chuckled and finally released him. "That wouldn't be so bad, but there could only ever be one Queen. Alright, let's go... and pray he disappeared or that I'm still asleep at the hotel and this is all a dream."

Mitch couldn't think of a retort, too many things zooming through his head so he just opened the door and headed down the hallway. Time was definitely not on their side and they needed answers before Scott had a complete meltdown.

He hesitated once he was back in front of the door. He knocked twice and tried to think of something to say. "Um, Scott? it's us..."

It wasn't long before he could hear movement from the other side and then a click as the lock was turned. He glanced over his shoulder at Scott one last time before he turned the knob and went inside.

The other Scott was still there and still seeming just as out of place as before. "Hey. You're..back."

"Sorry it took so long." Mitch apologized, still not quite sure what to make of the other man.

"Who are you and what do you want. You're obviously here for a reason." Scott got right to it, there was really no point in dancing around it anyway.

"I... What's the point? You wouldn't believe me anyway." 

"Just tell us the truth. Why do you look like me? Why do keep saying your name is Scott? Why the hell are you here?"

"What do you mean why? I just do! That's my name!"

"He's just anxious.I mean it is a bit ...jarring. We'll listen and try to believe you. I promise." Mitch took a step closer, just getting between them again to hopefully put the stranger at ease.

"He can't even believe that my name is actually Scott. You will think that I'm insane - and you'd be right. This whole thing is.. is.. Ugh!!" He covered his face with his hands, letting out a strangled scream of frustration, almost bending forward as if the situation was crushing him.

"This is hopeless. Let's get out of here." Scott shook his head. 

Mitch chose to ignore his Scott and focus on the scared version in front of him. "Ignore him. Why don't we start with why you're here... in this room.. at our concert."

There was a nagging feeling in Scott's chest, and maybe it had to do with how close Mitch was getting to the imposter, or just the overall fear that someone could actually replace him. It was just too much. "He already admitted he's insane. We should just leave and not look back."

"God damnit will you just SHUT UP! Let him explain before you speak. Damn you want him to tell you but you won't be quiet long enough to let him! Just let me do the talking ok?"

"If you two lovebirds can't stop arguing about listening to me, you won't be able to actually do the listening part." That got their attention. They both stared at alterna Scott like he had two heads.

"Oh, we're not-"

"We'll be quiet, won't we Scott." Mitch shot him a pointed look. 

"Seriously?! You're taking his side?" Scott stared at him with wide eyes. 

"You want answers, don't you? Just give him a chance." 

Scott rolled his eyes. "Fine, fine. I'm listening." He crossed his arms over his chest with a huff.

The other Scott shifted his eyes from one face to the other, almost like he was trying to understand whether they were actually sincere. "Ok. Ok." He then took a deep breath, before giving his back to them, starting to pace around the room. "So.. uhm, I don't even know where to start. You asked me why I'm in this room - that part is easy. A girl brought me here, probably because she thought I was.. well, him."

Mitch nodded a bit, brow still furrowed. "Makes sense. "

"As for why I'm here at your show..that.. well. I have no clue. I had no idea you'd be here. I don't even know where here is! I just..I woke up in a room and that girl found me.. and here I am."

"Ok? But what about before? You don't know why you were asleep in a random building?" Mitch inquired. 

"That's...that's the complicated part. I don't..I'm not.. oh how can I say it.." He bit his bottom lip, looking concerned. "Let's say I'm..not exactly from here. So I was..where I'm from and..then I was here. Does that make sense?"

"Not particularly, no. But I'll go with it. Do I get to ask where you're from?" Mitch watched him with curious brown eyes.

"From.. uh..you don't really kn-"

"SPIT IT OUT" Scott was losing patience. 

"Another world!! Okay? I'm..yeah."

Scott burst out laughing. "Another world? Now do you believe he's insane?"

"No I - this wasn't how it was supposed to go, dammit! They didn't say I would need to explain shit - fuck they didn't say ANYTHING about meeting my other self!"

"Who's they?" Mitch dared to ask.

"Roger and his fucking research team. You'll wake up at their government facility, you'll meet Mr Jefferson. He knows about the program, so don't worry. He will fix everything. Why did I accept??"

Mitch stepped closer and put a hand on his arm. "What did you accept?"

"To come here! To leave everything behind and just - I let them - oh my god how do I know I'm not dead?! What if that light killed me instead of teleporting me in this world? That must be it. I'm dead. And that's why you're here."

"Me? I don't... understand?" Mitch pulled his hand back, confused but also intrigued.

"No I can't be dead, he wouldn't be here too. Why would there be two me? Why would I dream about standing in the same room with myself and you being all in love and I'm the crazy stalker? I don't even know what I'm saying. Maybe I just went crazy all those months ago."

"So what you're saying is you're Scott... but from a different world? And I was there? God, why do I feel like I'm watching the Wizard of Oz." Mitch looked back at his Scott for a second before looking at his double again.

"Yeah. You know, the whole parallel universes theory? Do you guys have that here?"

"Probably? We can google it?" Mitch shrugged.

"...googwhat?"

"You're not honestly buying this, are you?" Scott cut in.

"You said you'd listen. Now let him ...finish? I mean, um... so what did you do there? Are you guys in a band like us?"

He visibly flinched, his eyes turning sad all of a sudden. "We.. I..no. Uh..singing is not...really a thing. And, well, my voice is really not the same as his." He stopped for a second, averting his gaze. "You guys are very good, anyway. Like.. really."

Mitch smiled, looking up into the other Scott's face even when he wouldn't look back at him. The resemblance was really uncanny. "Thank you." He squeezed his arm gently, hoping to offer some bit of comfort. It was an odd situation, one that he honestly couldn't seem to figure out, but seeing A Scott upset and frightened, even knowing it wasn't his best friend, it still tugged on his heart strings.

"I don't know how or what is really going on. I guess I just don't fully understand, but... I'll help you."

"Mitch!" Scott protested.

"I promise."

It was like those two simple words seemed to have a calming effect on the other version of Scott. He shifted his blue eyes from his doppelganger to Mitch's face, back and forth, over and over. Only after a minute or so of doing that he seemed to finally relax, his shoulders lowering as he exhaled, looking exhausted. "Okay. Thank you. It.. it really means a lot."